Heart of Darkness 8

• “My purpose was to stroll into the shade for a moment; but no sooner within than it seemed to me I had stepped into the gloomy circle of some Inferno.” (p. 52)

Inferno is Italian for “Hell” and here, Conrad is alluding to Dante’s poem Divine Comedy. The poem is divided into three parts, Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. The first part of the poem, Inferno, describes the acknowledgment and rejection of sin. In summary, the poem describes the journey of Dante through his medieval perception of Hell which is portrayed as nine circles of misery within the Earth. Clearly, the imagery used in this segment from Heart of Darkness, bases its ideas from Dante’s poem.

(Works Cited)
"Inferno (Dante)." Wikipedia. Web. 24 Aug. 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante).

(Photo Credit)

Dante's Inferno. Photograph. Joystiq. Web. 13 Sept. 2009. http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/12/dantes_inferno_top.jpg.